Eco Theory
by Blaze of Rapture
Summary: What if Colored Eco was still important in Jak II/3? This is what happens. Rated T for now, but strong language. Nothing I haven't heard out of a 13-year-old's mouth. Possible Pairings. Will not be listed in Summary, so read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok. I'm probably never gonna update this for no good reason, But I'll strike a deal. If one person reviews each chapter, I'll keep it up. It can even be the same person over and over. I don't care. Summary (Very Basic): What if, in addition to the MG (Morph Gun) mods, Jak II and 3 continued to have other forms of Eco (Yellow, Red, and Blue) and they produced other combination Ecos (Heretofore referred to as CE's)? Shit goes down, that's what. BTW Yellow and Blue will equal Gunner Green (Think Blaster and Vulcan Fury). Also Dax takes about another year to find Jak. Just go with it.**

_I looked down upon my arms, so adorned with these symbols, once strange and now all too familiar. A blessing or curse, who can say._

**2 Years After Rift Gate**

"Dark Eco injection cycle complete. Bio readings nominal and unchanged." The computer spouted monotonously. The subject dropped back to the table, no longer being injected with Eco.

"Hhhppp. Nothing! I was informed that this one might be different!" The Baron said angry at the _thing_ on the table in front of him.

Erol, being ever the kiss-up, tried to state the obvious as politely as possible. "He is surprisingly resistant to your 'experiments' Baron Praxis. I fear the Dark Warrior program has failed."

The Baron growled angrily and grabbed a nearly unconscious Jak by the roots of his greasy hair. He screamed in his face which momentarily made Jak contort in anger before becoming exhausted and nearly passing out. "Aaaagh! You should at least be dead with all the Dark Eco I've pumped into you!"

A nearly unconscious Jak looked back and forth at the two as they talk.

Erol grew weary and reminded Praxis of troubles ahead. "What now? Metal Head armies are pressing their attacks. Without a new weapon, my men cannot hold them off forever!"

"I will not be remembered as the man who lost _this_ city to those _vile creatures_! Move forward with the Contingency Warrior program! We'll start to fix this... 'thing' tonight!"

As they leave the room, a tired Jak grows angry, wondering what this new program holds in store for him. He is reminded of his intense hate for Praxis and feels his consciousness shift to something Darker and more sadistic. He feels himself lose control and watches as his skin take a pale lavender hue, while his nails grow long and sharp. He also feels more powerful and he tries to break his bonds, but he remains too weak, because he is rarely fed. The change is momentary, but it angers Jak while also giving him hope. Anger because the Baron's program worked. Hope, because he gave him a powerful weapon.

**1 Year Later**

"Channel complete. Subject shows extreme levels of retention, as well as ability to convert Dark Eco to other forms."

"Excellent!" exclaimed Praxis. "We will deploy him tomorrow. Those Metal Heads won't see this coming" On that note he left, preparing to cancel the deep drilling project, which was started in order supply the Metal Heads with Eco.

A couple of minutes later, Daxter broke through a vent from above landing on Jak's stomach with a set of clothes. Daxter had allowed his chin hair to grow longer over the last year, giving him a gruffer appearance.

"Holy crap! Jak, I finally found you! By Mar, what the hell did they do to you?"

Jak was surprised. He was going to break out today anyway, but having Dax back was icing. "A lot of shit. Hop off and you'll see."

Daxter, who was surprised to hear Jak speak, obliged. "So you talk now? How are you going to get out of that thi…"

Daxter stopped mid-sentence, watching Jak manifest his Dark form and break free. Jak turned and feinted at Daxter, making him flinch. He reverted and chuckled.

Daxter was not amused, having nearly jumped out of his fur. "What the hell, Jak?"

"That's for taking three years to get here. Hand me those clothes, we're breaking out." Daxter was anxious to see what other surprises Jak had up his sleeve.

**(Break)**

On the way out, Jak described the treatments he was subjected to.

"They gave me more shit than you can think of. First two years it was Dark Eco, every day. That's where freak show back there came from. That's Dark Jak. The Dark Eco and our first adventure paved the way for them to make me a channeller. Now I can turn Dark Eco into any other kind, store it for later, and retain the benefits for seven times longer. I think I can mix them too, but I was trying to conserve energy so I could break out, so I haven't tried yet."

Daxter was amazed that Jak survived all this. He was even more surprised that Jak wasn't a brooding mess. But, he thought, a positive attitude is probably what kept him alive.

"That is crazy Jak." Daxter was more interested in telling his own heroic story. But while you were locked up, I was off killing bugs for two years. Then I found a resistance force and now I roll with them. I figured that would be the best way to find you. I can't wait till you meet the leader."

Jak raised an eyebrow and after leaving the prison, hijacked a zoomer. He explained to Daxter how they showed videos introducing him to modern tech so that he would be useful as a soldier.

As they buzzed through the urban sprawl, Daxter grew curious about Jak's abilities. "So you can channel any Eco? Like old Samos and his Green Eco?"

"Yeah, but not as well as he could," Jak said dodging the KG with his zoomer, knowing full well the consequences of pissing them off. "And I have to have either that Eco or Dark Eco to convert. Anyways, it's not as cool as it sounds."

This piqued Dax's interest, and he asked "How in Mar could that not be awesome?"

"Because," Jak said, weaving through pedestrians, "I have a persona for each. Remember how Dark Jak scared the shit out of you? That's because he's a sadistic ass, but he's pretty nice when you get to know him. I hear a voice for each one, but his had been the most prominent lately, 'cause I was storing up Dark Eco."

"Still sounds awesome." Daxter said, refusing to give up ground.

"I got all kinds up here, Dax," Jak said tapping his left temple. "There's Dark Jak, who you met, Fastback who's Blue Eco and a speed freak, Sniper with Yellow Eco and cigarette addict, Thick has Red Eco and loves to pal around although he might break your arm on accident, and I call the Green Eco persona Doc, because he loves to help and heal people as much as he loves animals that aren't Metal Heads. He hates Metal Heads, some crap about them having no constructive purpose. Also I no longer need hair gel. The grease in my hair from no washing over three years has my hair stuck like this."

Daxter just took all of this in, just glad that Jak wasn't brooding or vengeful in any way.** (HINT)** He was a bit grossed out by the hair comment, and urged Jak to take a shower at the next opportunity.

**(Break)**

Soon Jak and Daxter reached The Underground. Jak dismounted his zoomer midflight and watched it crash into a building. The duo then walked over to the door, which Jak found without help.

As they walked in, Daxter asked how Jak knew it was that door. Jak said, "The big green logo outside kinda screams "underground"."

Torn saw Jak walk up with Daxter on his shoulder. He assumed this was the guy Daxter kept going on about. Over the past year, Torn had accomplished two feats: the first is that he secured the heir to the throne and the second is a scar over his left eye which forced it shut and proved to make him more badass.

Jak immediately noticed the tattoos on the man's face, marking him as a former KG. Jak quickly changed his remainder of Dark Eco into Yellow, allowing Sniper to bubble up. His face grew somewhat harder and his gaze intense. He allowed Sniper's persona to act while he watched, ready to force him down if this went south.

"So you must be Jak. Your muskrat friend has told me about you." He glared at Daxter.

"Yep. You the leader here? 'Cause I need two things."

Torn was surprised by the confidence of this man. He noticed that Jak had the walk and talk of a soldier.

"You do something for me first. What do you need?"

"Smart man. Well boss, I need a gun and a pack of smokes." Torn smiled at the last bit.

He pulled out a fresh pack and tossed it at him. "Take 'em. I'll work on a rifle for you. Name's Torn, figured since I know yours you should know mine."

"A smoker _and_ a rifleman! I think we're gonna get along."

Torn smiled and told him that they needed someone to go and retrieve a rook that was stranded in Dead Town, been out there for six hours.

Meanwhile, Daxter was dumbfounded by the smoothness of the exchange. Jak was on better terms with Torn than he was after a year.

With their orders in line the duo left.

**(Break)**

"What the hell was that?" Daxter exclaimed as soon as the zoomer was in the air. "How did you buddy up to him like that?"

Jak laughed, realizing he _did_ make it look _too_ easy. "I noticed the KG tattoos on his face. I figured he was an army man, so I let Sniper take over. Cake, really."

They reached the decrepit Water Slums, which were nearly destroyed by a Metal Head overrun 6 months prior. The people were hurt and sick, the buildings literally falling apart. Jak felt Doc surge up, but didn't resist, they had time for a detour. Often during times of intense emotion, the personas would rise on their own. Doc responded to Jak's compassion. Without warning, Doc took over completely and landed the zoomer. As he did, Jak's skin took on a color much like Samos' and his eyes became a lively green.

As he dismounted the zoomer, Daxter wondered just what the hell he was doing. The people of the Water Slums might as well have been lepers to the Dry Slums, let alone the rest of Haven. Doc looked and saw a man with an injured leg, it had been cut deeply and could be fatal if it wasn't treated.

"Daxter, could you grab that fabric tied to the back of zoomer?" Doc said with a calm and soothing voice, despite this Daxter shrugged and fetched it for him. Daxter then watched Doc walk to the man, his hands flaring up with Green Eco as he went. The man appeared scared at first, but as Doc laid his hands upon the cut, it began to seal and the man calmed down. Doc then wiped the remaining blood off of the man's leg. Daxter was amazed, and Doc walked back toward him, his skin and eyes slowly reverting to their original color. Once again Jak, he scooped up the ottsel and boarded the zoomer.

"You mind telling me what the hell that was?" Daxter questioned with persistence, as they covered the short distance to Dead Town, after Daxter corrected his directions.

"Doc wanted to help that guy, and I figured there was no harm in it. Why, did it freak you out?" Daxter shook his head.

"Naw, I got used to that with old Green back in Sandover. The KG saw ya though, and I doubt they appreciated the gesture." Jak gritted his teeth a bit.

"Well, should appreciate that I don't give two shits, especially after what they did, not just to me but to everybody."

**Oh, don't doubt me. The vengeance is there, but that last year humbled Jak a bit. BTW This took two days to write, so everything will be about 2 days plus any delay.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow. 2 reviews. Goddamn. I have to keep writing. JK, I wanted too, and you guys gave me a reason. BTW, I will write any oneshots, ideas, or w/e that you guys put in a review or pm. Seriously, I will write just about **_**anything**_**. This story is also now first person (Jak POV), for now.**

The door to the outside world opened and I was hit by a rush of wind. The chambers out of the city didn't depressurize so much as try to tear the flesh from your face with a heavy, sand-weaved gust. Daxter looked around, worried.

"Ja-ak?" Daxter whispered into my ear, a shake obviously present in his voice. I just rolled my eyes, Same old Dax, such a scaredy cat.

"Yes, Dax?" Sarcastic concern dripped from my voice, but Daxter seemed to ignore it.

"H-how are you gonna fi-ight? You got n-no guns-s." Daxter was practically shaking out of his fur, and I realized that creatures must be harder to kill now. Big deal, Dark's got my back.

**Hell yeah. You haven't let me out for more than a couple seconds. **Panged a voice in my head. **(A/N: Not trying to copy other styles, but extra voices in bold just works better than anything else)**

That's because you'd eat Daxter, even though he practically has no meat. I eyed the ottsel that was practically seizing on my shoulder to demonstrate my point.

**When are you going to figure it out? It's the **_**blood**_**, not the meat. I don't hunger, remember? Just **_**thirst**_**.**

And now you're going back into the box. It was then that I realized I still hadn't acknowledged Daxter, but I could see why he was shaking. Metal Heads were just a few yards ahead of us.

**Maybe you should let him out, I wouldn't want to have to treat our hands later. Besides those pieces of crap deserve to die.** That was Doc, believe it or not. I didn't think "piece of crap" was in your pacifist vocabulary. Besides, I think I can handle them.

"Same as always, Dax. I've still got it." I began to run at the Metal Heads, hoping to catch them by surprise. When we were about two yards away, Dax jumped off my shoulder, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire. I don't blame him. **I do.** Shut up, Dark. I tackled the creature and felt a hot stab in my right shoulder. I had been _shot._ I rolled onto my back and launched the Metal Head off me with my legs. Then I stood up and **looked for the bastard who shot me.** Damn it, picked up some Eco from that Metal Head. Now Dark's gonna be jumping all over.

**The hell I am. I'm taking charge, bitch.**

"**Alright, where's the bastard who shot me?"** Dark yelled out as he changed my body. We saw the shooter on top of a wall that was a pretty good distance away. I forced Dark down, and ran over there ready to assert the threat. Dax came out of hiding and scurried up behind me and onto my shoulder.

"Get scared?" I said, sarcastic.

"'Course not. Just figured I'd let you have a story for the girls at the club later." He said, cocky as hell.

"Uh huh." I said flicking his head. It was about this time that we were able to see the shooter. It was a short woman, just a bit taller than Keira. She was in cargo pants with a dark grey sports bra or tank top on, I couldn't really tell. Either way, she had a deep blue ponytail, down to the base of her neck probably.

"Who are you?" she said with a twitch. It was no wonder she shot me, her gun was almost as tall as she was. I could tell just from just looking that she was a real clusterfu-

"Who are you?" she yelled. Daxter winked at me, so I let him have his moment, so he could brag later.

"Cool it, hot stuff. We're Underground." I facepalmed. Not really the best thing to advertise to a stranger, Dax, even if we're looking for an ally. **Indeed, he should be wiser with his speech**. Thank you, Doc, for your expertise in repeating me. **We are part of the same mind, so I only really know as much as you, but sometimes you don't realize things. I was just trying to help.**

The woman got one good look at Daxter and attacked him. In a good way. In a matter of seconds, Daxter was in her lap getting the snuggling of a lifetime, and he was enjoying the hell out of it. She held him up by his armpits, pressing her nose to his.

"You. Are. So. CUTE!" and with that it was back to hugging the hell out of him. **Don't lie, you're jealous of his furry ass. That bitch is pretty sexy too, if you cut out the ottsel that's fused to her.** Nice Dark, can you even see a woman without getting sexual? My head was practically a porno on the way over here.

"So you're the rookie we're looking for?" I asked causing her to have to look away from Daxter. Then she started to stare at me. Crazy **bitch!** Damn it, Dark. Crazy girl. Spacey, too.

"Hello?" I asked again, "You in there?" She shook herself and looked around, confused. Then, as if she suddenly remembered where she was, she shot up and held out her hand. I took it and shook it.

"Sorry. Little off today. My name's Raia. **(A/N: That's pronounced Ri-uh) **I kinda got lost."

"I'm Jak." I pointed to the ottsel with ruffled fur on the ground, "And you already know Daxter." I seemed to remind her and she went right back to snuggling him. I pulled out my communicator and called Torn.

"Yeah?" I heard a gruff voice on the other side.

"Found her."

"Wow," Torn seemed amazed. "That was quick." ** Damn Straight.**

"We're heading back now." Torn nodded and cut the line.

It was about his time that I realized I would have to drag Raia out of here. Then I had an idea. **Actually Jak, it was mine**. Fine, Doc takes credit. Regardless, I snatched Dax from her and ran toward the door to Haven. I have one thing to say about the result.

That girl is fast. She ran like she was possessed. I was just able to stay ahead of her. Judging by how she was panting afterward, I guessed she wasn't supposed to be able to run that fast. I "hitched" a two seater, managed to get her in it and we headed to the Underground.

**(Break)**

The whole ride back Dark kept throwing innuendo at me. Eventually, he and Doc got into an argument, but I told them both to shut up. When we finally got back to the Underground, Raia was finally done petting Daxter, who was starting to complain.

"Torn!" I called out as we walked inside. "We got a present for ya." He looked up, rolled his eyes and threw a black object at me. I caught it and saw it was a rifle.

"Good job. There's a Scatter gun mod and a Morph Gun. There are other MG mods but you'll have to track those down on your own time." He walked over to his desktop map and tapped a spot on it. "This is your next mission. I'm getting complaints that the KG are grouping up here. I want to scout it, but try not to make contact." I nodded, the mission was reasonable.

Torn looked away, tending to other things I assume, and said "I also want you to take the rook." Dax got in a word before me.

"Are you kiddin', Inkface? She nearly strangled me on the way over here!" I gave him a tap on the shoulder, signaling to let me handle it. He just sighed, as if I would screw this up.

"It's fine, I think she needs field time."

"Good to hear that. I'm gonna have her stick with you for a while then, you seem competent." And cue Dax staring daggers at me. "I also think you should stop by the Hip Hog Heaven Saloon, see what work you can get from our girl over there. She took charge a couple months ago when the fat old bastard who owned it died of a heart attack." Dax perked up when he heard the word "girl".

"Alright." Great. I get to be a teacher, and I barely know anything. **Like it matters. Now you have some tail**_** assigned **_**to you. I can't wait to get all up in that. **Ok, that's enough from you, Dark. **Boss, when are you gonna let the others talk?** Soon, Snipes, soon.

**Sorry about shit ending. I am tired. Will update soon.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, sorry about shifting perspective again, but that last chapter reminded me of how hellish it is for me to write in first person. It usually becomes stale, not like a person thinks, let alone a person with five other voices in his head. Also, the personas are only gonna be present like two or three at a time, for my sanity and yours. As you saw, three is confusing enough, and I barely used Sniper. Shiro thanks for reviewing, I think you'll enjoy the direction of this new character. On to the story, how will the rook fair in a fight? Will Jak be able to keep the manwhore that is Dark Jak down? We'll see.**

Jak told Raia and Daxter to sit and wait for a second, while he "procured" a ride for them. Jak somewhat disliked having a tag-along, as it meant that he couldn't use single-seated Zoomers. He hated to use the larger Flyers **(A/N Yes, they have names. Zoomer=1 Seat. Flyer=2. Cruiser=3.)** because they went slow and turned like shit. **Well, you could take a Zoomer, I'm sure the rookie wouldn't mind.**

Jak kicked a pedestrian off of his Flyer and questioned Dark. _What are you going at? You couldn't think she likes us like that._

**Perhaps**, spoke the dark voice, completely ignoring Jak's skepticism, **you should look closer. Or just look period. Did you see how she was staring, back at Dead Town? That ain't a typical greeting.**

_Think what you want,_ Jak thought, kicking the throttle high, trying to get back to the waiting girl. _I guess I'm not perverted enough to try to take advantage of a nice girl._

**Oh, goddamn it. I hoped to God you didn't, but it's clear now.**

Jak was confused now. _What's clear?_ _What are you talking about?_

**God, you're dense. Look, we're almost back to the bitch, we'll finish this later.** Despite Jak's protests, Dark would not reply and soon they were back to Daxter and Raia, so he pushed it out of his mind.

"Get in," Jak said, "We have to get to South Town." She climbed in, giving Dark a chance to force Jak to glimpse down her tank top. _You're disgusting, Dark._

**It's **_**your**_** body, one would think you could control it.**

_One would think…_ Jak thought as he drove off.

**(Break)**

Jak tracked the beacon indicating the location of the fight, but when they got there, all they saw was a relatively barren corner of South Town, adorned by one of the many large tanks and a couple pipes, along with a path down to the sewer. Jak sensed something wasn't right and walked to the origin of the beacon, the corner behind a pipe and the tank. He reached into the corner and retrieved a decoy beacon. _Odd,_ he thought, _what the hell is this?_

Just as he thought this, KG forces quickly blocked off the way they came in, and ground forces flooded through the other path.

"Damn it! Dax! Raia! Get your asses over here!" **My time to shine! ** Dark yelled in Jak's head as he forced his way up. Jak tried to interject with _No, wait! You'll scare-_, but it was too late, Dark tossed the MG to Daxter, knowing he wouldn't need it.

Dark stabbed his way into the crowd of KG, tearing them to shreds before Daxter and Raia's eyes. Daxter somewhat expected this, stayed back, knowing the danger. Raia just froze. Daxter could see that Jak wouldn't be able to take down all of the KG, his transformation wouldn't last that long, if it was anything like the Eco they used on their first adventure. So he, Daxter that is, led Raia toward the sewer while Jak's dark side destroyed the Guard. He made sure that Jak saw him so he would know where to go. The two disappeared into the sewer, but Dark failed to tire. It was only when a Turbo Cannon emerged from the ground that he backed off, knowing full well that the thing could kill him in seconds flat.

Dark dodged as much fire as he could, making his way to the sewer entrance. As it opened, he dove through it, releasing his hold on Jak as he did. As the door shut behind them, locking out the KG, Jak took a moment to recover. He then got up and started off quickly down the one way sewer. He knew Dax would only go as far as the first intersection without him, so they didn't get lost.

Jak took the alone time to consult his dark persona. It was less formal than observers like Doc would have preferred, coming out something like: _You want to tell me just what the hell you were thinking?_

**What?** Dark replied, guiltless. **It seemed like a good idea, you would have had your hands full without me.**

_Yeah_, Jak spat back angrily, _but you changed me in front of Raia. Now, she's probably scared of me._

**Ha! I knew you had a crush.**

_Would you grow up for a minute? Regardless of how I feel, if she's scared of me, she won't trust me. If she doesn't trust me, then her being my partner is going to be hell to say the least._

**Oh. Shit. I didn't think of that. But we had no choice. If I hadn't taken over, we would be in worse shape than now.** He was referencing the various cuts and burns from the guards' rifles. **Coulda been worse.**

Jak sighed out loud, thinking, _Yeah, I guess. Just, please warn me when you're gonna take over. The others do. Come to think of it, you're the hardest one for me to understand, let alone control._

**That's because you're a hero. Think about it, I encompass everything dark and bad about you, so naturally a good kid like you would have a hard time handling me. It's just because you **_**haven't**_** before.**

_I guess you're right. It's strange, though, I can almost feel a force balancing you, like keeping you in check so you don't wreak havoc _all_ the time._

**I feel it too. It's damn annoying.** Jak just laughed, enjoying his dark side's plight.

**(Break)**

Raia was shaken, partly by the battle, and partly by Jak. What had he changed into? She thought back to how mercilessly he slaughtered the guards. Even she hated the guard, but not enough to see them torn limb from limb like that, it was just gruesome. The stranger thing was that she liked it. She had frozen and had to be led away by Daxter, but the shock was only part of the reason. She was entranced by the swift elegance of the dark creature, much like the power of a horrid Metal Head tearing into its prey, there was a majesty hidden deep in the gore. Was she actually attracted to the darkness? She had felt something when they first met, which is why she stared. She could feel the darkness in him, even when it was suppressed. What she didn't know is that she had the ability to pick up on Eco traces, but since very few survived the Baron's Eco tests, and there was no other source of non-lethal Eco, she had never experienced it before.

Despite all of this, she was trying to juggle her raw attraction to the darkness and her attraction to Jak as a person. Despite his calm outside, she could tell he had been through a lot, and yet he managed to stay positive. She knew it would only take a little to break him of that positive outlook, so she would have to be careful with his emotions. She didn't want to rush in anyways, not until she had learned more about his dark form.

**Sorry it's short, but I wrote over three-quarters of this tonight and I figured this would be a good spot to stop. I'll make sure to make it up to you all with a longer chapter next. Anyways, that's all for now.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry about the wait, I had a big project to finish.**

As Jak was working his way to Raia and Daxter, Raia began to feel a pain in her ankle. _Goddamn it, I hope I didn't sprain it._ To test it, she stood, and while it was painful, she could put weight on it. _Thank God, just twisted._ Daxter noticed her struggle and got up from the corner he was curled up in.

"You ok? You looked like you're hurting." Daxter said with concern in his voice.

"I'm fine, just twisted my ankle on the run here. Adrenaline kept me from feeling it." She said, adding a smile to comfort him.

Daxter looked relieved and said back, "Know what will help? Ottsel in your lap." He bounded over to her and curled up in her lap. _So cute_, she thought. She wanted to bring up what happened to Jak before, but she was reluctant. She thought about it for a couple minutes, allowing her fingers to idly sift through Daxter's fur. Soon, she decided to just ask, no harm in a question, right?

"Daxter?" She asked curiously, although all she solicited from him was a simple "Hm?"

"What happened to Jak before we left? It looked like he changed to something more… dangerous." Daxter perked up as she spoke. He knew that if anything, Jak would rather explain this himself.

"You shouldn't ask about that." He said with a flat, half idle, half irritated tone. "That's something personal to Jak. If you really want to know," He now turned to look in her eyes, as if to set the point in stone, "you should ask him yourself. It's not my place to tell." With that he laid his head back onto her lap, soon falling asleep.

Raia noticed as he began to snore gently, not making noise at all. _When was the last time he slept?_ She wondered. _Where do they sleep?_ She looked around at the dark and wet sewer walls as she pondered. With a final, curious thought, she asked herself, _Where is Jak?_

**(Break. Just want you all to know I **_**am**_** losing sleep over this.)**

Jak finally emerged to find a half-asleep Raia and comatose Daxter in a large hub of the sewer. He guessed that they had gotten used to the smell as he did, because it was horrible. He wondered how they could sleep with that smell in the air, but he walked over to them regardless. He stepped a little heavier so that he would rouse her without scaring her too much, and it worked. She woke slowly and came to full attention to see Jak before her. Naturally, she was a little startled, but she remembered that this was _just_ Jak. She lifted Daxter and set him on the floor as she stood.

She walked right up to him looking him dead in the eye with a serious look on her face. Jak was surprised that she was so brave, especially after his little display. She raised an eyebrow, cracking a smile after a minute or two. She flicked his long ear and said smugly, "To think I was scared of _you_." With that she began to walk back to the wall.

Jak picked up on her game, shooting back, "You haven't seen anything yet. And like you're so frightening. I saw how you limped over here, you shouldn't even be walking." She blushed, thanking God she was turned away from him. She decided to change the subject before she lost control of the conversation.

"How do we get out of here?" Jak was taken aback by the shifting topic, but quickly recovered.

"**There's a way that leads to the Precursor Forest. But we will go nowhere before I get a look at that leg.**" Doc spoke out for Jak, feeling the forest's energy not too far away.

"Now just what is _that_ supposed to mean?" She asked as she slid down the wall. It was then she noticed the odd green tine in his skin, a change in his stance, as if he were replaced by someone else. She felt comforted though, as if he truly meant no harm. _Weird. _She thought. _Just like before, but this feeling is good. Calm._

"**I mean that that leg is not suitable for walking. I need to examine it to see what I can do."** Raia was surprised by the change of tone and syntax he had. _Something definitely changed._

"Alright, but make it quick. We need to get home." _We?_ Jak thought to himself as Doc walked his body over to her. Doc sat next to her and felt around her ankle, noticing a slight swelling and redness. He tested it with a squeeze, eliciting a grunt from her. **Interesting, but it appears to only be twisted. A minor injury, but we will have to carry her.** Doc thought over to Jak. _Good. Now I have and excuse to do _this_._ Jak thought, draining away the Dark Eco and Yellow Eco, replacing it with Red and Blue. ** 'Bout time**_._ Called out one thick voice. **Yea, took ya long enough. **Rattled off another that was higher, faster, and generally more electric. With the transition finished, Doc backed away, allowing Jak control once again.

All Raia saw was a blank expression on his face for a couple minutes, during which time he was still holding onto her ankle. "Uh, Jak?" She spoke, pulling him from his head. "What's wrong with it?"

"Oh! It's- uh," he said nervously, releasing her ankle, "Just twisted." ** Just like you, bud. **_Wow, thanks Thick. Glad to see you're on my side._ **Kiddin' bro, cool your jets.**

"So how do you plan to get me out of here, if I'm not allowed to walk?" Raia asked, immediately not liking the look on his face. "Oh, _hell_ naw."

**(Break)**

They had woken up Daxter, who had just laughed at the scene before him as they began to walk. Jak borrowed a little Red Eco and began to carry Raia, bridal style with Daxter on his shoulder as they began to trek towards an exit. Jak did manage to retain his personality, thanking God because thick would make things worse. **Not by much, bro.** _Shut your ass, Thick. I can tell she's hating my ass for this anyways. _**If it makes you feel better, Jak, I can tap into her mind, briefly. Just long enough to catch her train of thought.** _How the hell would you do that, Doc? _**I simply feel the energy radiating from her Eco. It's faint, but I can do it because your skin contact makes it a bit stronger. **_Go for it, but I know she's pissed._

And so Doc did. He was indeed surprised by the result. It was as such: _Damn him and his strong arms, but I'm glad he doesn't know I'm enjoying this._ When Doc shared this with Jak, he nearly dropped her. She yipped, a sound which made Jak involuntarily raise an eyebrow in her direction. _You for real, Doc?_ **Indeed. **Doc replied simply. **Looks like we got a couple 'a lovebirds. **Thick threw out, wanting to get his hat in the ring. Fastback was about to get his licks in when Jak saw something that ran the voices dead silent. _Damn it._ Jak thought, noticing a four-legged blue beast ahead, but more noticeably, the large golden gem in its head. _Metal Head._ Then he noticed that there was multiple glowing orbs in the distance.

"Son of a bitch." Jak said, quite loudly in fact. He set Raia on the floor, having Daxter keep her from moving. He began to unload with his Scatter Gun, but started to run low on ammo quickly, having had only ten rounds to start with. Despite having little ammunition, Jak managed to kill all but two. Knowing that he wouldn't do well to attack them hand-to-hand, he summoned his Red Eco, to make sure each hit counted. With the power came slightly thicker arms, redder skin, and Thick's personality.

"**You sons 'a bitches are toast." **He said with a cocky smirk. Raia watched all of this, admiring his marksmanship and curious about this new transformation. This changed excited her, because this time she got to further examine it. She could sense a thick wave of energy radiating from Jak now, and she could tell he was much stronger. What she didn't know was the Red Eco actually just loosened his muscles and allowed them to flex and expand so much more that he nearly doubled his strength. She watched as he rushed into the beasts, knocking them to the floor with a smooth punch, looking effortless as he did.

Soon the beasts were dead and Jak collected the skull gems. He walked back to Raia, the Eco already drained from him. He picked her up and allowed Daxter to climb up his arm. They began to walk and Jak began to look sad or upset.

"Sorry you had to see that. I know it must freak you out." Jak said with a dejected look on his face, truly remorseful for what she saw as a harmless, helpful even, act.

"It doesn't." She said, trying to comfort him, seeing how fragile he was once again. "Thank you for that, you've been nothing but help to me. I really hope that you don't think I hate you or something stupid like that." She crossed her hands behind his neck as she spoke, looking him straight in the eyes again.

**Damn, bro. Didn't think she cared like that.** _Neither did I._ **Yea, she really likes ya kid. **Said Fastback.

"As much I hate to," Daxter said snapping the attention of the two, "I need to interrupt you two because we're here." He gestured toward a door before them that was in the process of unlocking. They saw that outside it was the Precursor Forest, green and beautiful, and that it was raining. They walked outside, trying to devise a route home.

**Sorry again about taking so long.**


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter might have taken a bit to write, and if so, I am sorry. This was written before the story and will not be changed to be correct.**

As they progressed out into the vast forest, the rain began to pick up. Soon it got to the point that between Daxter's bitching and a lack of a way to progress until the rain, at the least, lessened. Jak noted that despite the inconvenience, he rather enjoyed the rain, something that he had rarely experienced back in Sandover. As they sat, resting beneath a tree, Raia soon fell asleep, Daxter curled in her lap. Jak, left to his thoughts, went back to the days before his first journey, his childhood in Sandover.

**(Break)**

Keira, although she was two years younger than the then-mute Jak, was always more adventurous than the soon-to-be hero. In fact, there was one time when she very well proved this to be true. In the years prior to Daxter falling into the Dark Eco on Misty Island, Jak and Keira were something just a bit short of the best friend relationship held by Jak and Daxter. While Daxter was off one day, for a whole weekend actually, doing God knows what; Keira and Jak were bored out of their heads. As we all know, when children, especially elf-like children with freakishly long pointed ears that are, for some reason or another, still called human, get bored, they grow curious. This curiosity undoubtedly leads to trouble, a lesson the two would soon learn.

Out of their curious boredom, the pair decided they would camp out by Samos' Green Eco Harvesters for a night. So, they gathered an old bed sheet, a couple long wooden pole which Samos had whittled out for no apparent reason, and enough of what Samos would have considered junk food (thinly sliced gull sandwiches on full wheat bread, which was, incidentally Jak's favorite food) and set up a makeshift tent to weather the night.

Luckily for them, the wind lay calm that night, but a rainstorm brewed on the horizon. It hit shortly after the pair had gotten over the initial majesty of sitting in a tent, stranding them outside. Of course, they could have walked the thirty yards back to the hut, but where was the fun in that? So the evening began to decline, as Keira grew frightened of the storm. Mind you, she was about eight or nine at the time.

"Jak, the storm is scary. Fix it." she said with a bit of a shake in her voice. Jak, ever the problem solver, went outside and stared at the sky for a few minutes, getting drenched as he did. He came back into the tent with completely flattened hair, a strange contrast to his normally spiked hair. He stripped off the soaked outer layer of his clothes, shoving them into a corner of the tent, leaving him in a pair of shorts and a thin white shirt. Keira was amused by his dampness, giggling as he shook his hair to dry it. All seemed well, until thunder sounded a few moments later. Keira was truly on the verge of crying out of fear, but Jak wrapped his arm around her shoulder, kissing her on the forehead and holding her tight. When she seemed to calm, Jak offered her a sandwich, a truly pure and noble gesture, considering how much he liked to eat. She accepted it and ate it happily. The storm soon passed and they slept peacefully outside. The next morning, Jak caught hell from Samos, but he didn't care all that much.

**(Break)**

As Jak thought over these forgotten memories, a true conflict was occurring in the dreams flowing next to him. Raia was dying, slowly, in her dreams. She had been slain by a masked and yet all-too-familiar assailant. She was being attacked by her past. It was catching up to her, she knew that now. She would have to deal with her mistakes, and what they did to her. She was bleeding slowly as she watched the shadowy, shifting figure stand over her in her dream. She watched in horror as it removed its gnarled and twisted mask, slowly revealing its pale face. She knew the assailant. She knew, that long hair stained by Eco; that pale and tender flesh, scarred by it. She knew those black eyes. She knew that she had been lying. To herself and the assailant. She knew there was only one way to fix it. She had to be on the level; that dark, low level where she knew someone was. Someone she was starting to feel for.

Three hours later, Raia woke, sweating cold from her horrid, horrid, nightmares. She stood, silent, and ran. Her footsteps were softened and made no noise in the dampened mud. The last night's rain had awakened her fears and saved her fate, for now. How much more would nature help her, before it unleashed its brutal vengeance on her for her deeds? Jak and Daxter were comatose, never once rousing during her hurried escape. They awoke an hour after and were fortunate enough to see faint footprints, very faded into the soft and damp mud. Jak rose in alert to see that his follower had abandoned him. Without warning, he hurled Daxter onto his shoulder, taking off chasing the fading prints.

**(Break)**

Raia was already back in the city, wandering through the bazaar, trying to distract herself from her thoughts. She saw it as a sign from God when Torn contacted her.

"Just where the _hell_ were you? We have had so much _shit_ going on during your little two-day romp through a signal dead zone that you wouldn't believe it. Not that it matters now. Where's Jak? I told him to follow you." Torn screamed all of this at her, but noticed her flinch at the last part. He had seen her flinch like that once before, when a channeller had to be killed because he had been captured and bugged. "Oh, goddamn it. Are you shittin' me? Forget what I said. Get here. Now." Torn closed the channel, but not without noticing how Raia was tearing up. _This will not end well_. He thought to himself, remembering the outcome before. He just hoped to God that she actually did follow orders this time.

**(Break)**

Jak and Daxter plodded through the forest, eventually happening upon a broken down zoomer, mysteriously left outside the city gates. Jak knew that he didn't know what area of the city he was about to enter, so fixing this zoomer, rather than stealing one, would probably keep him off the KG radar. He poured a bit of Blue Eco through his system, allowing Fastback to emerge. Daxter saw the skin tone change and thought, _Oh God, not again._ Fastback stumbled through his words, stuttering as he tore into the zoomer. After about five minutes, he had the zoomer in working order, but barely. The thing wouldn't make it far, so they would have to be careful.

The pair mounted the zoomer and drove through the gate, entering the bazaar region, which Daxter didn't recognize.

"We must be on one of the far sides of the city," He explained, "because I know most of the city. We might not be able to get out of here for a while, at least without a security pass." As they flew through the area, they entered a more urban region, and Jak felt the zoomer starting to give as they were passing a large building. He parked the zoomer, knowing it was through, and looked at the building.

"What's that?" Jak asked, pointing to the building. Daxter followed his finger and saw the stadium.

"That's the stadium, they hold races there. Come to think of it, the prizes are usually decent. Maybe that's how we'll get a pass, they're not that much. I'm flat broke though. Let's head inside, it says that we can sign up, if we can find a team." Jak nodded as the ottsel provided this knowledge for him. He decided that this was about their only option, so he headed for the stadium.

**(Break)**

As they entered the right side of the stadium, they caught a glimpse of a woman passing behind a curtain in the only open garage. Daxter gave Jak a reassuring grin and pat on the shoulder, as if to say, "I got this."

"Hey! You a team manager?" He yelled to the woman. He saw her silhouette turn to face them, her hands on her hips.

"Who's asking?" A voice came from the other side. _Sounds familiar,_ Jak thought to himself.

"An ottsel and his kid." Daxter said sarcastically. The woman, who had turned back to other work, shot up when he said this.

"Ottsel?" she questioned, pulling back the curtain to see a familiar orange furball. "Daxter?" She asked.

"How do you know my name?" Daxter retorted as the woman walked around the corner. "Oh, that's how." It was none other than Keira, but you all knew that, of course. Keira smiled at Daxter then turned to see Jak with surprise.

"Jak?" She asked amazed, looking him over.

"Keira." He said back, receiving a "Holy crap, you can talk!" look.

"God, what happened to you?"

"A lot, listen, we need to race for you. We need money so that we can get a security pass."

"How about I give you mine? I never use it." she said, picking it up off if a nearby desk. Footsteps sounded from down the hall, prompting Keira to react. "Oh crap, you guys need to hide. I think that's Erol, he doesn't like other guys in here." As Jak tried to hide, the name stuck in his head. _It couldn't be the same guy_, he thought. He was proven wrong, seeing the KG leader walk through the garage door, armor and all. Jak remained silent and listened to the conversation.

"Hey, babe." He watched as Erol walked up to Keira and kissed her. Jak about shat himself. Daxter was less shocked.

"Hey, yourself. What are you doing here?" Keira asked innocently. Erol pulled out a tube, which he opened to pull out a poster.

"Just coming by to tell you to watch for this guy," he said, pointing to a picture of Jak on the wanted poster, "He's an Eco experiment gone wrong, and he escaped the palace. He's real dangerous, so be careful and steer clear, okay?" Keira nodded, trying to hide her shock. Erol left after this, and Jak came out.

"You're dating that bastard?" Jak said with anger. He had to try his hardest not to let Dark take over, but Dark still came to the forefront of his mind, and spoke for Jak a bit. "**What the hell?**"

"What? Yeah he's my boyfriend, but what did he mean about you being an experiment?" Keira asked with a mix of concern and contempt at his reference to Erol.

"He injected me with Eco for three goddamn years, that's what! Shit!" Jak yelled, slamming his fist to a wall. "Stay away from me, yeah right. That asshole is the one to stay away from."

Keira had to object here. "Jak, I know he hurt you, but he is my boyfriend, be reasonable."

"Reasonable? He put me through **absolute **_**hell**_** for three years!**" Jak couldn't help it, Dark took over, changing his appearance. Dark spoke for him now. **"Do you see this? He made me! He has to die!"** Jak took control back in time to see her fearful face. She ran away screaming for Erol and for Jak to stay away. Jak grew very angry and left the Stadium in a rage.

**Reading back over this, I think the anger I wanted came across well in this last scene. Also, yes, Raia has a sub-plot. What's happening there?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry, but until May 25, I will probably be posting a little out of sync. Don't worry though, that's only a week away. I just got new music to listen to, so I'm happy to write.**

Raia entered the underground to see an oh-so-pissed Torn standing there, waiting for her. His hard look made her flinch for no reason, his eyes keeping hers from looking at him. His crossed arms were just collateral to the pissed off package.

"So, it's happening again? Jesus, Raia, I can't protect you this time. I don't know why you beat yourself up over this. It's inevitable. You had to work with the Eco Projects to get information for us, but you didn't even inject any Eco. Hell, you weren't even there any of the injections. Why does this guy's opinion of you matter so much anyway?" Torn's tone went from snapping to comforting. But then a thought struck him and he looked her in the eye. He could tell, she had a thing for this channeller. "Jesus Christ. You sure know how to pick 'em, huh?"

**(Break)**

"Damn it all! Why the hell did you do that!" Jak yelled at thin air, or at least that's what it seemed like to Daxter. But then he heard a change in Jak's voice and saw what was going on. Jak was arguing with his dark side.

"**What? What did I do that was so wrong?" **The dark side taunted out loud, not caring who heard. It was near midnight anyways, not one was outside the stadium except the occasional pedestrian leaving their home, but they were out of earshot, or they got way the hell out of earshot when they heard yelling. **"She would have to find out sometime, besides, what were you hoping for? Thinking you could get some of that? Hah, bullshit."** Jak didn't really care about his other personas, but they didn't clash with him like this.

"What about that time by the Eco collectors?" At this point, Daxter just followed the pair of arguing people, though he couldn't see one. He was starting to get used to this… whole _thing_. The personas and all. But regardless, he stopped listening, knowing it would be futile to interject at all.

"**What about it? You were two were like ten! I doubt she even remembers, or **_**cares**_** for that matter. Obviously, she's very happy getting boned by that KG prick. Let's just leave it."**

"No! She wouldn't just stop caring after all that!"

"**Don't you remember that Flut-Flut imprinting on Daxter? Ya saw that it was okay with leaving him, so why would it be any different with Keira? I mean, God, a teenage relationship having no meaning and ending for no good reason? **_**Never**_** heard of it."** It was at this point that Jak snapped, silencing the Dark half. He saw his arms glow with strange runes which were the colors of the Ecos, all but the murky purple of Dark Eco. They grew bright and colorful, but soon the color faded and they took on an insanely bright white. They were like this for a moment, and then they faded quickly, leaving no remainder of the runes.

For once, Jak felt free of the Dark Eco's hold. Not truly free, though, he could feel it was still there, but it was faint and being beat down by another. The Other Force felt light and airy, a sharp contrast to the heavy and thick Darkness.

"Ho. Lee. Shit." Was all Daxter could say, but Jak could speak volumes.

**(Break)**

Raia was trying to feel out Jak's Eco trace, taking Torn's advice and looking for him to tell him the truth. _It couldn't be that bad_, she thought, _I wasn't even there the whole time he was. They abandoned the Dark Warrior project weeks before I came._

It began to rain once again, this time much heavier. Raia realized that Jak and Daxter were probably really tired, but then it struck her where they were.

_Of course_, she thought smacking her forehead. _They've gotta still be stuck in the yellow zone, they don't have passes._ So that's where she began to fly, hopeful that she could find them soon, because the rain was picking up and a storm was brewing. She decided that she would call Torn to let him know.

**(Break)**

"What the hell was that!" Daxter practically screamed as the pair left the yard around the stadium and entered the city district. "You just started glowing and shit! What in Haven happened to you now?"

"I couldn't tell ya." Jak said plainly, receiving a pissed-off look from his furry companion. "But it's like something countered the Dark Eco. Like, put it into a balance. Whatever the hell it was, I'm thanking God for it." Daxter just shrugged and decided to change the subject, because he was tired and had had his yearly dose's worth of freaky shit.

"Ya know, it's gonna start raining again. Now that we have those passes, we should probably look for Raia. She could be lost and if she is, Torn will have our nuts." Jak nodded and they set off to look for her, walking through the city's tight walkways. The canal sat stagnant, waiting to be upset by the coming storm.

Jak decided that he would check in with Torn, and pulled out his communicator and calling him. The line connected and Torn's face appeared on the screen.

"Jak!" He practically yelled in surprise. "Where the hell have you been? Raia is out looking for you."

"We were with her, but she ran off. Where is she now? There's a storm coming and we need to get back."

"She's probably headin' to the bazaar. She told me that's where you guys probably were."

"Thanks Torn." Jak said, cutting the line.

Jak grabbed the nearest zoomer out of the sky, one of the white and red models, and backtracked through the city. He floored the gas, nearly losing Daxter from his shoulder on more than a couple hard turns. After a few minutes, he was in the thick of the bazaar, with Daxter as lookout. He killed the speed and cruised at traffic speed through the tight maze of shops and huts, painfully slow as he felt the first drops of a soon coming rainstorm wet his shoulders and hair. Daxter looked around sharply, hoping to see the mess of blue hair, the grey sports bra, any sign of the girl.

Soon Jak became impatient, dismounting the zoomer and deciding to walk, knowing it would be faster than the snail-pace traffic. As he walked, the runes from before began to glow, but faintly. They remained color full as well, as if avoiding the stark white from before. Jak hardly noticed, but his personas did. In fact, they were the ones causing it.

**(Break)**

Raia had been floating through the bazaar for close to fifteen minutes when she had to touch down her zoomer. It was out of Eco, no longer able to run. So she wandered, trying to feel out Jak in the crowds. She was unsuccessful, though, and began to become irate. This irritation was only heightened when she saw that the rain had caught up with her, evidenced by the first drops of the storm falling on her. She walked under the roof of a nearby shop, one of a strange fortune teller. She decided to walk inside, she knew the owners always hated when people clogged up the doorways.

As she entered, an older woman said hello, with a dark tone, almost foreboding. _Not much of a pitch_.Raia thought a she walked over to the woman, who she assumed to be the owner.

"You are looking for someone, aren't you?" Raia was surprised to hear the woman pick up on her issue so easily.

"Yeah, what's it to you?"

"I am a mystic, although that bitch with the monkey-bird has been stealing my business. Please, sit, I will tell you a fortune or two."

Raia sighed, knowing that she should be looking for Jak, but sat regardless. "Fine. One fortune." She pulled out a chair from a weak old table and sat in it, one arm thrown over the back.

"Good, first one's on the house." The mystic said, sitting across the table from her. "Let's see. You are looking for someone as I said, but not because you were told to, you wanted to. You feel some kind of special connection to this person, perhaps a man you have feelings for?" Raia's eyes opened a bit at the first statement, but her mouth fell open a bit and she blushed at the second.

"Ah, I see I am right. Let's see." Said the mystic again, closing her eyes for a second, as if to ponder. "You feel separated from him somehow though, maybe you did something wrong?"

"Damn, you're nailing it. Tell me more, tell me the future." Raia commanded in amazement.

"I'm sorry, but that was your free one. From here, you'll have to pay." The mystic replied, her voice flat.

"Fine," Raia spat, clearly pissed about it. "I'll pay." She forked over the money.

"Good, good…" the mystic breathed. "You shall find this man, but you will have troubles in the future. Be careful with him." With that, she stood, walked to the back of her shop, and briskly drew a curtain across the room to block Raia's vision. Raia stood and left, somewhat satisfied with the fortune. The mystic stood behind her thick curtain, muttering to herself, "Heh, another sucker thanks to Cold Reading."

As Raia walked outside, she felt a faint eco pulse from not too far away. Knowing it was Jak, she ran toward it. It was a brief pulse, but it continued to pulse every couple of seconds, like sonar. She soon saw Jak and ran quickly to him. He had hardly seen her when she took him down with a bear hug.

"Oh Jak, there you are! I've been looking for you."

Jak smiled, happy that she was happy. "I've been trying to hunt you down after you ran off." He paused and thought for a second. "Come to think of it, why did you run off?" She stuttered for a second, anxious about telling him.

But she did anyways.

**#Toonamisbackbitches **


	7. Chapter 7

**Gonna let the plot settle a bit with this one. Sorry it took so long.**

Jak just stared at her, eyes wide, a scowl scarring his face. Raia was scared, afraid of what he might do, knowing that he was probably very mad at her. She had explained that she worked in the labs where he was experimented on. She tried not to look him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, but if it makes you hate me less, I wasn't involved in testing you directly, just working on the process of the multi-Eco channeling." She started to sulk when she saw him move very suddenly. He had snapped his head up to look at her. His eyes were wide again, but very much more serious this time.

"Just the multi-Eco? You're sure?" She looked at him and nodded. "Shit, you just redeemed yourself. Whatever the _hell_ you guys did, I think it's countering the Dark Warrior program's effect. You know, that dark form? It's suppressed, but it's still there." She started to think, wondering what might have done that. Despite being somewhat naïve, she knew Eco. She had to, or she would have been exposed when she worked for the Baron. If there was any one thing you could count on her for, it was knowing the mechanics of Eco.

"Well, we were just supposed to enhance the channeling abilities of the recipient, but the way you took the treatment, if I remember your papers correctly, you would have to have had prior exposure. Did you channel Eco prior to this?" Jak thought back, remembering the whole set of events leading up to teleporting here.

"Yeah, in the place where I lived before I came to Haven, Eco was common. I had to channel it all the time to do work and when I had to go on this big journey, could that be what you're meaning?" The trio began to walk, needing to get both back to the Underground and out of the rain.

"Yes, exactly. You probably channeled Eco enough to become an exceptional channeller. But still, all we did was allow for you to channel much more heavy doses of Eco. I don't see how that could-" Jak nodded, remembering the comment that the Blue Sage had made about him after he defeated Gol and Maia Acheron. _You have an amazing talent for channeling Eco!_

"Wait, I think I got it." Jak said, excited, "It might be that I retained enough traces of each kind to be able to create Light Eco. That would explain the countering. After all, it wouldn't be much, and it would take an absolute shitload of Light Eco to overtake the Dark Eco completely."

Raia was following him right up to "Light Eco", then he completely lost her. Oh, sure, she could figure out what it was pretty easily. You have Dark, and you have Light, so it make sense for it to carry into Eco, right? The idea was a complete surprise to her was all. No one had even _thought_ of Light Eco up to this point. The sages were dead and gone, so all Eco research, known as "Eco Theory", was done in labs. There was never any need for a counter to Dark Eco. After all, in this day and age, Eco was primarily used for power and weapons R&D. The irony is that Light Eco is about 5.7 times more efficient than Dark Eco in terms of power, producing enough to supply 11 homes, with excess, for 3 hours per cubic meter.

So, of course, Raia's reaction to this "Light Eco" was made before she could even think.

"What the hell's Light Eco?" She asked, confusion etched into her face.

Jak looked at her like she was an idiot, but Daxter answered for him. "You're kidding. It's Eco of light, the opposite of Dark Eco."

"You're pulling this out of your ass, aren't you?" Raia asked, completely serious.

"No!" Jak answered. "Before I came here, I cleansed a man and a woman who were deeply tainted by Dark Eco, worse than me, by using Light Eco made from the four colored Ecos. It's some kinda high, let me tell you."

"It also could have been a good way to make someone un-fuzzy." Daxter spat, to which Jak rolled his eyes.

Raia was once again confused, wondering a couple of things like where the hell he would get that much Eco and how she hadn't heard about this. "Where are you from Jak?"

It was the first time someone had actually asked him that, so the question threw him a bit. "Huh? Oh, I'm from Sandover Village."

For a third time, Raia was immensely confused. "Sandover Village? You've gotta be joking." The look on his face said otherwise. "Oh, God. Jak, do you remember where you met me?"

"Yeah, why? It was a pile of ruins, what of it?"

"Jak," she said softly, putting her left hand on his right shoulder, "that pile of ruins _is_ Sandover Village. It crumbled to pieces years ago after being in horrid shape for the longest time."

Jak stopped dead and Daxter fainted and fell off of his shoulder. "What." Jak said, his voice flat as a board.

"Jak, I'm sorry, but your home has been ruins for over fifty years." Jak's response was fainting and collapsing next to Daxter.

**(Break)**

Raia had laid Jak, who was out cold from his head hitting the ground, into the other seat of a Flyer and buckled him in to keep him from falling out. She noticed him stirring a bit when they were about five minutes from the Underground. He was awake, but very disoriented, when they parked, so she threw his arm over her shoulder and helped him inside. She sat him in a chair and turned to face an inquisitive Torn.

"I think he needs to see the Shadow." She said, no tone, no look on her face, just flat.

"Why's that? 'Cause he's some big shot channeller?" Torn said, sarcastic and rolling his eyes. "No newbies meet the Shadow, Raia. You know that."

"He's from Sandover." Her words hit Torn like a spike. As she said this, she tended to him, making sure he wasn't badly hurt from hitting his head. He wasn't bleeding, but he would probably be messed up for a couple more hours. She decided that since he was awake, it was best to keep him that way.

"_Sandover!_ How the hell is that? That place has been ruins for over-" Shock was thick in Torn's voice as he recovered from this information.

"Fifty years, I know." Raia said, proud of her knowledge.

Torn shook his head. "Naw, try two or three hundred, and if he lived there, it would have to have been at least another hundred on top of that."

Raia nodded and added, "He said Eco, other than Dark Eco, was common back then, like it was everywhere."

Torn was surprised once again and looked over to Jak. "Goddamn, how old is this guy?"

Raia looked at his as well, saying, "I don't know, Torn, I don't know."

**(Break)**

When Jak woke up, he had a splitting headache and was alone; even Daxter was gone. He guessed that everyone would be back soon, so he sat and tried to relieve his headache by relaxing.

**I'm not some headache you can just ignore. I'm stickin' with ya for a while.**

_Shit._

**Sorry it's short, but I might need to put this story off for a couple weeks, no more than that though. I just need to vent by working on other stories and working out a longer term plot for this, because most of this I pulled straight out of my ass.**


	8. Chapter 8

**3 Days over 2 Weeks, but who's countin', huh?**

Jak was dealing with two headaches at once, scratch that- a headache and an outright _migraine_.

**You didn't think I could be gone forever did ya? The other idiots you got up here can't protect you for long. **

Jak just rolled his eyes for no one to see. He just sat there, not moving from where he woke up. Soon Raia came in and noticed, to her surprise, that Jak was awake. Jak was suddenly reminded of what had happened, him fainting, the revelation he had, everything.

"Jak! You're awake." Raia said surprised when Jak stood with normal balance, as if he hadn't smacked into pavement just hours ago. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fi-" Jak started as he tried walking, discovering he didn't quite have his balance back. Raia ran up to him, ducking beneath his chest and clutching him by his shoulders as she pushed him back up. She held him for a while, letting her hands meld into him as she began to hug his neck. Despite the hug being very nice, Jak felt uncomfortable, his usual social awkwardness and aphephobia kicking in. Raia soon came to her senses, blushed heavily, and backed away a bit.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly. **How'd that rattle ya, kid? I betcha just loved it. **_Screw you. She's not like that; we aren't like that._ **Beg to differ. **_Whatever._

"It's fine, I just get a little nervous. Eco Treatment does that to ya." Jak tried to comfort her, knowing full well he made her feel bad. "It's not you, I like you."

Both of them froze while, Jak's dark side laughed wildly in his head. **God-damn kid. Even I couldn't have pulled that off. Shit just got weird.**

"You like me?" Raia muttered under her breath.

"Shit. I wasn't supposed to say that." Jak said, not realizing he was speaking.

"What do you mean?" She asked, packing tension into the situation.

Jak groaned, knowing this would be a bitch to explain. "I mean that I like you, but you aren't supposed to like me back. Hell, I'm not supposed to like you. Shit gets too complicated. I just found out I'm at least fifty years in the future, the friggin' demon in my head just started in on me again, and now this. So yes, I like you. In fact, if I didn't have all of this shit happening, I'd ask you out to, to… shit I don't know, but something for sure. Hope that makes sense." Raia noticed Torn walked in partway through Jak's speech, catching the line about time travel.

"So that's it is it? Guess I'd better find a fiver, I lost a bet." Torn said walking from the door he walked in through to Jak and Raia. "I had money on precursor eco creature. Oh, well. I don't suppose that demon in your head is from the Eco treatments?"

Jak nodded, but commented, "Yeah, but not from when she" he gestured to Raia, "was around. It finished before she got there. She just gave me four other voices, much less insane though."

Raia perked up, having a something of a solution. "Jak, those voices? They aren't there. We didn't do anything to add more personas. Dark Eco could have made the one, but the others are just coping mechanisms, I bet."

"What's that mean?"

"It means," she said taking his hand, braver this time around knowing he reciprocated her feelings, "that you can turn them off. You have to, actually, if you wanted be in full control of the colored Ecos. Just force them down, you'll find they give pretty easy."

Jak channeled his will and concentrated on forcing them down, like when he would change Ecos but with all of them at once. They gave, caved in, and disappeared.

"It worked. How did you know?"

Raia smiled, "We had others with more severe cases that developed full-blown MPD, so I figured you just deal with it a little better." She threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tight, not being rejected, but embraced back.

Torn coughed, threw a paper airplane at them, and said, "Kay, break it up. Your next assignment's on the sheet. Get to it."

**(Break)**

Raia couldn't even think while she sat, riding with Jak on a single Zoomer. Daxter was still unconscious, but Jak had sworn up and down that he was faking it to get some downtime. She was alone with him, completely confused, loving every second of it. She thought of the way he spoke to her about his feelings, the deep, latent passion hiding in his frustration. The idea made her shutter with excitement, for the future, for the present. She tightened her grip around his waist trying to focus on the mission. She didn't care much, so long as she was with him.

Later, she returned with him to the Underground. She was hardly there, mentally, during the mission, so Jak picked up her slack. They arrived to find Daxter was still asleep, but breathing deeply, so they left him. Raia told Jak that the Underground was no place to sleep, although Daxter was having no hard time of it. Regardless, they decided he would stay with her, given he had nothing to his name.

Raia turned her key in the lock on her door, a thin piece of wood that had faded into a pale red with the number 13 carved into it in Roman numerals. She directed him to the couch and said she was going to change clothes, having worn the same outfit since they had entered the sewers a day and a half ago. Jak nodded and pulled off his thick outer shirt after she left, revealing a thin shirt, stained heavily with the sleeves torn off and the neckline ripped down into a "V". He left his pants on, they were fine for being inside, but he removed his boots along with his goggles, setting them next to his shirt on a tile across the room.

Raia returned, wearing another sports bra, red this time. Her legs weakened a bit when she saw his more exposed body, his arms thick with muscle from constant climbing. She asked if he was hungry, receiving a hardy growl from his stomach as a response. She directed him to the leftovers from takeout in her fridge. She said she was going to bed, walking back toward her room, saying he could stay on the couch. Jak got the leftovers and sat on the couch, quickly polishing them off. He set the plate he used aside and laid back, trying to relax.

**Bit quick to move in, huh kid? You work faster than I thought. **

_Shut up, asshole, I said it isn't like that. _

**Then what, pray tell, was that whole scene before with the hugging and shit? You sayin' that doesn't mean anything?**

_Fine! Fine, I give! I like her, big damn deal!__I can't try to get close to someone?_

**Not with me around. You don't know, I have to feel all that shit, whether I want to or not. I'm not letting you take all of the power. You better get used to compromise. **

_Why? I own this body, it's mine to control._

**You must be dense, I swear. Look dipshit, you can have it if you can take it. You think you can overshadow me? I don't. Besides, I **_**AM **_**you, just the dark side you suppress. You can't fight me.**

_You're just another demon to face, no stronger than the other voices. _Jak began to suppress the darkness in him, but it surged against him.

**I'm hurt, you think I can take your weak will? Try growing a pair beforehand next time. Now, go to sleep.**

And with that Jak decided to cooperate.

**Sorry this took so long. I might not update as often as before. Can't help it.**


	9. This is gonna hurt

Sorry guys, but this is getting put on hiatus. I have a horrible track record for writing, I usually can't finish longer stories like this one. I've basically run out of ideas for the plot, at least ones that could be implemented within a few chapters. So, I'll probably kick another story out of my head in a day or two, but I think I've figured it out. I think as long as I stay below five or six chapters, I can finish. Regardless, I won't be finishing this story, so I'm very sorry.


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